The Archer

Chapter Twelve: Attraction

".... Hello? Earth to (y/n)!"

The words pulled me out of my thoughts. After my conversation with Leyla I had decided to join the others for breakfast for a change, and to prove I hadn't completely merged into oblivion. But it was merely impossible to focus on anything besides Anakin - and the dream I had last night that was engraved into the back of my mind and still concerned me.

Even now as Tony started snapping his fingers in front of my face in a rather irritating way.

"I was just asking you if you'll come to the party this evening," he said as we made eye contact, probably assuming I was now mentally present.

"I didn't know it was a party," I muttered while scraping crumbs off my plate. "It sounded a little more formal when Master Ti told me about it."

"True," Leyla chimed in. "She mentioned a lot of notable guests to me when I asked her about it."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Of course there'll be notable guests. Have you ever been to an event like this? No matter how fancy they make it appear, it always ends the same." He made a gesture imitating someone drinking from a bottle.

"Well, I hope they've taken strong security measures," Leyla said with a sigh staring at her plate. "After the bombing, it does seem a little... risky to hold an event like this, don't you think?"

"Honestly, I gladly take the risk if it means a little change," Tony stated, a haughty grin on his face. "To be honest, I'd expected working for the Jedi to be a little more... exciting than this. And hey, a party likely means a little variety in food - and I don't know about you, but that's enough reason for me to show up."

I couldn't help but smile a little.

"So, are you coming?" Tony looked back and forth between Leyla and me sitting across the table from him.

"I think I will," I heard Leyla say next to me, and she gave me a little nudge as in encouraging me to come too.

I shot her an apologetic smile while cleaning up my place. "I'm not really in the mood for a party, I'm afraid. Sorry, guys. But you have to tell me everything afterwards."

I hadn't really lied. I wasn't in the mood for a party - and the reason for that was sitting in a starfighter on Anaxes right now. My nightmare hadn't changed my decision - if anything, it had reinforced it, affirming me that I was doing what was necessary. What was reasonable. Which was not meeting Anakin again.

Now I only had to break it to him, and I wasn't particulary looking forward to that conversation. If he even wanted to talk to me after he came back - because as of now he still hadn't answered my message.

There wasn't much to do in the Archives that day as most people were caught up in preparations for the upcoming event, so I quickly resorted to mindless scrolling through HoloNet. One of the first headlines popping up caught my eye, and made my heart skip a beat.

General Skywalker reported to be on his return to Coruscant after successfully defending the base on Anaxes (read more)

I quickly skimmed through the article. So he was safe - and not only that, but on his way back to the Temple.

My initial joy and relief quickly faded upon remembering that I had decided to avoid him from now on. Part of me wanted to get up, leave the Archives and run to the main entrance as fast as possible, hoping to see him there once he arrives. But that would be counterproductive. I closed the site with an annoyed groan. And sent a short message to Becca asking if I could call her later.

About an hour later I was in the middle of putting back Holobooks when I got interrupted by a voice, one I would already recognize anywhere.

"(Y/n)?" His words resonated through the room, and I resisted the urge to yell "Shut up!" as he clearly wasn't making any effort to show even the slightest bit of discretion.